


Possessed by Emrys

by ooh_look_the_void



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: (but like it was my tumblr post lmao), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Based on a Tumblr Post, Canon Era, Gwen Knows About Merlin's Magic, Kinda Crack, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Multi, Not Canon Compliant, actually y'know what I'm several chapters in and this is completely crack actually, no beta we die like basically everyone in the show, not properly at first but eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24752047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ooh_look_the_void/pseuds/ooh_look_the_void
Summary: In a universe where making himself look like an old man suddenly became too inconvenient for Merlin, he and Gaius pretend that Emrys was a magical spirit who could help out instead. Only problem is, Emrys needs a host to magically intervene on the mortal plane and so, naturally, that host is Merlin. In which Arthur is frustrated, Merlin is tired and everyone else is having way too good a time getting ‘possessed by Emrys’.
Relationships: Gwaine & Percival & Elyan (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Lancelot/Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 100
Kudos: 386





	1. Merlin

Considering everything, it should have been no surprise that Camelot was under magical attack yet again. This time, it was a horde of bizarre creatures sporting the head of a boar and the legs of a goat.

They’d appeared almost out of nowhere in the dead of night. Thankfully enough, though, a young woman from the lower town had seen them and alerted a patrolling knight before they’d fully descended upon the capital. Now, several hours later, much of the population was bunkered up in the citadel as the creatures laid waste to their homes.

“Do we have any idea what these creatures are yet?” Arthur entered the room; his sword was bloody and he looked exhausted, “Because my men are dying out there and I don’t think we’ve killed a single one of these creatures. I stabbed one clean through the heart and it just continued to attack.”

“Well they’re not human. Maybe their heart is somewhere else.” Merlin looked up from the book he was poring over.

Arthur let out an exasperated sigh, “Gaius?”

“Aha.” Gaius turned his attention from the book he was studying to Arthur, “I believe I may have just found them, sire.” He tapped the page he was reading and gestured the prince over, “Hircocervus. A malignant creature of the old religion, they are beings of pure magic.”

“Wonderful. How do we kill them?”

“That’s the problem. You can’t.” Gaius paused, “They are more of magic that they are of mortal creation. No mortal weapon will be strong enough to fell them, only magic can.”

“So, we must consort with sorcery to be rid of them.”

“I am afraid so, sire.”

“Could we ask that Dragoon fellow? At the very least, he is already known to us.”

“No!” Gaius and Arthur turned to Merlin. “I mean, he lives outside of Camelot. How would get him here to help? It’s impossible.”

“Surely that’s the same for all sorcerers Merlin? There’s hardly going to be one here in the citadel.”

Merlin and Gaius exchanged a look. “If I may sire,” Gaius intervened, “I believe there is a sorcerer who could help us here.”

“What sorcerer would be that stupid?” In his incredulity, Arthur failed to notice Merlin glaring very obviously at Gaius.

“This is no ordinary sorcerer sire. The druids have long spoken of this being, they call him Emrys and say his destiny is entwined with yours. He is said to always be near you.”

“And why have I never been told this? Or even met this Emrys?”

“Well… He’s a spirit, sire. Yes, being a creature of magic Emrys has no mortal form. He can, however, intervene on our plane with the help of a host.”

“And who’s going to be his host?”

“Well, given your entwined destinies, he simply cannot possess you. And, I am far too old. It will have to be Merlin.”

“Merlin?!”

Merlin choked, “I have to agree with Arthur for once. I’m not doing that.”

“But you must. We can not afford to waste anymore time so we can not go and find someone else to act as host. It will have to be you Merlin.”

“Gaius has a point. Now stop being a girl Merlin and let this Emrys creature possess you. Or do you want us all to die?”

“I- fine. But, for the record, this is ridiculous. How do I even get this Emrys to possess me?”

“You cannot make him. But I am certain that, given his responsibility to Arthur, he will come to you by the time you reach the battle. Now go.”

With that Arthur left, gesturing at Merlin to follow him. Merlin paused at the door and turned to Gaius, “This is the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

Gaius merely shrugged, “Just use your magic and pretend it was Emrys. It’s hardly like this will come up again.”

With a final look of annoyance, Merlin ran off after Arthur to the thick of the battle. The pair burst through the castle doors, only a few metres away now from where the Hircocervus had reached.

“They’ve breached the citadel. Merlin, has this Emrys possessed you yet?”

“Um yeah. I think so.” Merlin said with all the confidence of hunted deer.

“You think so?!”

“Just give me a minute. He hasn’t exactly come with instructions. I don’t know what I’m meant to do!”

“Nothing. Do nothing. Just let this Emrys take control so we don’t all die.” Arthur swung his sword meaninglessly at an attacking Hircocervus. Its head rolled to the floor before reappearing atop its neck in a puff of smoke.

To the side Merlin suddenly shifted. His entire demeanour seemed to change. He stood blot upright and suddenly seemed overcome with confidence that Arthur was certain Merlin could never possess. His stance shifted and he planted himself firmly, standing bolt upright. His eyes began to glow gold and an unearthly voice echoed from him chanting in an unknown language. A great gale swept through and a tremor shook the Earth. All the Hircocervi stilled. Arthur stared at Merlin – no, Emrys. With a final word the Hircocervi burst apart into ashes.

In that moment, the power radiating from Merlin’s body vanished. He tripped over his own feet and fell flat onto his face. “Did it work?” He rolled over and looked up at Arthur.

“Somehow, yes. Given you utter inability to stand though I’m amazed this Emrys was able to do anything like he did with you as a host.”

“I think you’re being a bit harsh.” He pulled himself up off the ground, dusting himself off as he realised he’d fallen into a pile of Hircocervus.

“No. I’m not. Now come on. We need to explain this to my father before he has you killed.”

∞

From then on, through the final years of Uther’s reign and into the beginning of Arthur’s, Emrys continued to make appearances. When they fought the Monocerous, Emrys was there. When they came across an unwelcoming group of Sea Monks, Emrys was there. When they encountered a particularly gruesome group of bandits, Emrys was there. It seemed now Arthur knew of him, he could not escape this strange magical being whose destiny was supposedly entwined with his.

To make matters worse, Emrys kept kidnapping Merlin without warning. The creature seemed to have become fond of using Merlin as a host, gods knew why, and was always possessing him without warning to go deal with some strange new threat plaguing Camelot. Or, on at least one occasion to talk to the druids which Arthur had only found out because they kept calling Merlin ‘Emrys’ when they’d visited during the negotiations for peace between them. Arthur tried to find a silver lining in the fact that this all meant Merlin was frequenting the tavern far less, it didn’t do well to be have a drunk for a manservant, but that didn’t really change the fact that Merlin was still never around to do his actual job.

It all came to a head a few months after the druid incident. Arthur and the knights had gone out on a hunt; Merlin, of course, had been dragged along too. It had all been going well and seemed like it was going to be a normal day. When all of a sudden out of nowhere, a strange creature with the head of a from, torso of a pig and legs of a chicken emerged from the thick of the forest.

“I told you we’d run into something that meant Emrys would come.”

“Shut up Gwaine.”

“You’re just mad because now you owe me money.”

“You two had a bet?”

“Would you all shut up? It’s just a monster, we don’t need Emrys to sort it out for us.”

“Too late.” Percival pointed over to where Merlin was. His eyes glowing as he took on the beast.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Arthur picked up his sword and marched over, placing himself in between the, quite frankly, confused monster and his possessed friend.

“You should move.” Emrys said.

“No. You listen here Emrys. I have had it up to here with you! Yes, you’ve saved Camelot and my life a few times but we don’t need you to waltz in a possess my manservant every five bloody seconds! Especially when you keep taking him off on your little magical adventures. Do you know how many times Merlin has come back from those injured? It’s a lot. How do I know you’re not just going to get him killed one day? Then I’m in an even worse situation than I am now because then I have no manservant or, even worse, I’ll have to have George as my manservant permanently. You cannot keep possessing my servant and taking him away without warning. It’s inconsiderate! Why can’t you just possess one of my knights? At least they’re actually capable enough of looking after themselves.”

Merlin stared at Arthur, trying his best not to start laughing at Arthur’s outburst given the absurdity if this all. “I will ask next time?”

“Good.” He nodded. After a brief pause, he turned to the creature still standing behind him, “Now, you may as well deal with that thing and have Merlin meet us back in Camelot.” He turned on his heel and walked past the knights, “Come on.”

They all followed, save Lancelot who suggested that someone ought to stay behind and keep an eye on Emrys and Merlin, just in case.

As soon as everyone else left, Merlin burst out into a fit of laughter. He kept trying to say something to Lancelot but whatever it was just set him off again until tears were streaming down his face and he could barely breathe for all the hysterics he was in.

And, as Merlin stood there laughing, Lancelot slayed the strange creature that had finally forgone its confusion and made a move to attack. It seemed Emrys hadn’t even been needed in that situation after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First up thank you for reading!
> 
> Second up I'm just going to note that Uther did not die like in Canon in this universe. Having Arthur be all 'boohoo magic killed both my parents' seemed like too much hassle so I've decided that Uther just got his head lobbed off by some random yet competent non-magical assassin. Not that relevant but also kinda is. 
> 
> Other thing, all mystical creatures named were from a random google search and I've probably butchered the genuine interpretation of them (sorry to any Hircocervus fans) and the last one was just a random animal combo from my head. 
> 
> So yeah, also any constructive criticism or comments are welcome. See you in the next chapter!


	2. Gwaine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which Gwaine initiates trouble and starts what's going to become Merlin's biggest headache aka. it's time Gwaine gets 'possessed by Emrys'.

A tranquil calm fell upon Camelot for several months after that incident. Emrys seemed to have ceased his constant abduction of Merlin’s body and magical attacks had almost ceased completely.

As Gwaine, Elyan and Percival were all on patrol in the north-east, alongside the border to Caerleon, however, that calm soon broke. They had been travelling quite pleasantly, regaling each other with exaggerated tales of their past exploits; mocking each other for their stories’ outrageousness, when a peasant child came barrelling out ahead of them.

Percival gently got down from his horse and approached the child, “Are you okay?”

The child shook their heard furiously, tears streaming down their face.

Elyan wandered over, “Can you tell us what happened?”

It took a while but between sobs the child was able to relay the rough story to the knights. Their village, Glasslyn, lay a short distance from their current location. It had been beset by a poor harvest and the villagers had been unable to meet the demands of their local lord. Now the noble had sent some of his knights to raid the village for supplies, the child had fled when their father had been attacked.

“This is why I hate nobles.” Gwaine said once the child had finished the story.

“Since we’re knights, aren’t we technically nobles?” pointed out Elyan just as Percival said, “Leon’s not that bad.”

Gwaine thought for a moment, shrugged and then turned back to face the child. “Do you know the name of the Lord who did this?” he asked.

The child mumbled out a response that neither Elyan nor Percival recognised. Gwaine, on the other hand, clearly did; his face twisted in anger as soon as he heard it. “That bastard.”

“Gwaine, there’s a child here.” Percival whispered, gesturing at said child.

Elyan stared at the other two, “That’s your problem? Gwaine, this village is in Caerleon’s lands. Whatever problem you have with this Lord, we have no jurisdiction. If we help, we risk starting a war and that will only make things worse for these people.” He trailed off, getting progressively quieter as he spoke; realising his words were falling on deaf ears. Gwaine mounted his horse and rode off, leaving Elyan and Percival with the child. “I guess we’re going after him then.” Elyan sighed.

Percival smiled sympathetically and helped the child onto his horse. They all went off after Gwaine.

By the time they reached Glasslyn, Gwaine was facing off several knights and shouting about wanting to see Lord Pellinor. Percival quietly guided the child to their father who, whilst slightly injured, was thankfully still alive. The other knights took little notice of the new arrivals as Elyan and Percival gathered most of the villagers, placing themselves between them and the knights. Only a few moments later, another man arrived.

“Pellinor.” Gwaine swung his sword round to the direction of the man.

“Gwaine. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I assume you’re not just visiting, a shame really, your mother misses you.”

“These were my father’s lands Pellinor. You have no right to them, no right to treat the people like this.”

Pellinor sighed, as if he were scolding a child, “I’m a noble Gwaine, I have every right. And I have every right to these lands. Your father was stripped of them upon his death, I married your mother and saved them. By all rights these are my lands, who else would they belong to? You? You abandoned them, your family and your kingdom. You have no rights to them.”

“By law lands are passed down through blood. I have a right. Or I can reclaim them by force if I must.”

Pellinor laughed, “You may well have once been able to make an appeal to take back these lands but not anymore. You’re a knight of Camelot, our kingdoms may be allies but I doubt Queen Annis would grant you Caerleon’s lands now.”

“By force it is then.” Gwaine made a move to attack.

“But,” Gwaine paused as Pellinor began to speak again, “we are family, no matter how much you wish to deny it. I will grant you this village as a kindness. In exchange you will come visit your mother and sister. You have much to catch up on, did you know Elaine is finally to be wed?”

Gwaine glanced over at the huddle of tired, injured and starved villagers. “Fine.” He said through gritted teeth.

“I’m glad you’ve seen sense.” Pellinor gestured for his men to leave, “I assume you still know the way to the estate?” Gwaine nodded and, with that, Pellinor turned and left, his men following behind him.

Several villagers thanked Gwaine; he, Percival and Elyan spent some time helping the villagers tidy the mess and salvage as much produce as they could. They helped patch up the injured as best as they could and Gwaine handed off some coins to several families, to help cover what other food they may need. A few hours before nightfall they said their farewells and left the village.

“You’re a noble then?” Elyan asked as soon as they were away from the village. Gwaine nodded.

“I did say nobles weren’t that bad.”

“No, you said Leon wasn’t that bad.”

“Well, you’re like Leon then.” Percival said.

Gwaine made some kind of despairing sound, “Like Leon? You wound me. I’m hurt beyond measure.”

“Leon really is not that bad, Gwaine.” Elyan added, somewhat exasperated.

“What is this? The love Leon club.”

Percival snorted and Elyan threw a glove at Gwaine, “Stop acting all jealous, you idiot.” Gwaine rolled his eyes and they all came to a stop, Gwaine dismounting to retrieve Elyan’s thrown glove. As he returned it, Elyan picked up the conversation again, “About being noble, why did you never say anything?”

“Because it didn’t matter. And because nobles are the worst. Pellinor disgraced my father and made my family lose everything before forcing my mother to marry him, as if he were doing us all a favour. At least now I know why he did it I suppose.”

“The land.” Percival said; Gwaine nodded in affirmation. “Will you do what he said and visit?”

“I have to. Besides, I really should see my family. Maybe try and help Elaine get out of whatever awful marriage he’s orchestrated for her.”

“I though you said your sister was an ‘evil old toad’.”

“Oh, she is. One time, when we were children, she pushed me out a window into the moat. She’s a nightmare but she doesn’t deserve to get shipped off to some stuffy noble if she doesn’t want to be.”

“What should we tell the others then, when we return to Camelot?”

“I don’t know. Anything but the truth. Something that will keep princess off my back for almost starting a war.”

Elyan and Percival shared a look, “I’m sure we’ll think of something. Goodbye Gwaine.” Elyan smiled.

“And good luck.” Percival shouted before he and Elyan rode off to the south and Gwaine began his journey west into Caerleon.

∞

It was a little over three weeks later that Gwaine returned to Camelot. His time in Caerleon had been surprisingly pleasant: his mother was well and his sister was now out of that awful marriage thanks to some joint scheming and an (un)lucky visit from her betrothed. As much as he still loathed Pellinor, the man had barely shown his face the entire time he was there and, it seemed, that was the case usually too. And, to top it all off, there was even talk of him visiting again in future, or possibly of them visiting him (and whilst that would mean having to tell everyone everything, seeing Elaine’s particular brand of chaos rampant in Camelot might just be worth it).

And so, Gwaine arrived home to Camelot in a good mood. Unfortunately, Arthur was in no such mood.

The king was in a foul mood. For starters, one of his knight’s had vanished without word for weeks now and all Elyan had deigned to tell him was the most ridiculous excuse he’d ever heard, and that he desperately hoped was a lie. Then, on this particular day everything had become significantly worse when word that Escanor was planning to visit. Arthur hated the man like no other. He was an insufferable busybody prone to constant criticism of anyone and anything; he also ratted Arthur and Morgana out to Uther for stealing food to coerce rats into his room when they were younger and Arthur still hadn’t forgiven him. 

Needless to say, Arthur was in a foul mood so when his godforsaken missing knight showed up halfway through training, he may or may not have lost it, just a little bit.

“Sir Gwaine. Where the fuck have you been?”

“Aw princess, you missed me?” Gwaine asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Arthur ignored him, “Because Sir Elyan told me that you ran off to marry Cenred. And I would very much like to know the truth.”

Gwaine stared, open-mouthed at Elyan who was trying desperately not to laugh, much like most of the other knights present, which is to say, much like all of the knights. “I assure you, I did not run off to marry Cenred.”

“Then where the hell were you? And why did Elyan tell me that?” He turned to glare at Elyan who had suddenly started coughing.

“I can only assume that was the reasoning given to Elyan but it was not by me. In truth,” Gwaine paused, uncertain of where exactly he was going with this when he remembered what Arthur said the last time he saw him so mad, “Emrys possessed me.”

Arthur paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Emrys possessed you?”

“Yes. He needed help and you did tell him to stop using Merlin all the time and that he ought to possess a knight instead. So, naturally, when he needed help most he chose to possess the best of your knights.”

“Not true, Lancelot was here the whole time.” Merlin piped up, having just appeared with Gwen.

“You’re biased.” Gwaine shot back; Merlin just shrugged.

“You’re both wrong but I’m too tired to deal with this. Training’s over.” Arthur waved his hand, as if shooing them all away, and headed back into the castle with Gwen.

“Wait, what do you mean we’re both wrong. Who’s the best knight then?” Gwaine shouted, flinging his arms up in the air.

Elyan and Percival snuck up behind him, “Leon.”

Gwaine jumped, “I hate you both.” He stalked off to the changing room, the other two following behind, amused grins plastered on their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, comments and criticisms are welcome!


	3. The Knights

“Emrys has just possessed me, goodbye.” Percival stood up from his seat at the round table and exited the council chamber.

It had barely been two minutes since the meeting had begun but it was, admittedly guaranteed to be boring. Little had happened in Camelot recently; only crops and taxes and trade up for discussion. Still, Gwaine thought, Percival should have waited a little longer to leave. And no, he wasn’t only thinking that because he wanted to get out of the meeting instead, thank you very much. Percival should have waited longer because there was a very small chance that these constant departures from council meetings because of Emrys was getting a little suspicious.

It took a few minutes to settle the meeting again as Arthur had to restore order to the handful of frazzled nobles and old-fashioned knights with reassurances that this did not mean Camelot was under immediate magical threat. He sighed, “No, Sir Cador, Percival has not been corrupted by evil. We have this discussion every week.”

Sir Cador began to grumble something about how Uther would never stand for this when Guinevere interrupted him, “Sir Cador, if you do not believe my husband is ruling adequately you are welcome to leave this kingdom. Though I’d hasten to remind you that Uther did, in fact allow Emrys to assist Camelot in times of need.” She cast a pointed look at a scar marring his neck, “Or did you forget the help he offered in our fight against the Hircocervus?”

Cador mumbled an apology and Arthur mouthed a ‘thank you’ to his wife before turning his attention back to the entire round table, “Now then we need to-” He paused, “Gwaine, Elyan, would you stop glaring at Percival’s seat? He can’t exactly help the fact that Emrys has need of him. Now then we need to discuss the grain store, Sir Caridoc?”

∞

What felt like decades later, when the council meeting finally ended, Gwaine and Elyan found Percival in The Rising Sun, chatting amicably to some other customers having just, if the other man nursing his wrist in the corner is anything to go by, won at arm wrestling. The pair grabbed a drink before gracelessly flopping down into seats beside him. “I can’t believe you got out of the meeting just for this.”

Percival shrugged, “And you wouldn’t do the same?”

“I would but that’s exactly the problem. You’ve been getting out of council meetings like this for _weeks_. Princess may not be the brightest but he’s going to get suspicious soon enough.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. He did tell us Percival can’t help getting possessed. I don’t think he has any clue what’s going on.”

“You’re taking his side now?” Gwaine said, elbowing Elyan as he did so, “I’m hurt.”

“I was only saying what Arthur said. Anyway, I don’t know what you have to complain about Gwaine, you’ve missed how many training sessions the past few weeks because of this?”

“Emrys just knows which knight doesn’t need the training.”

“We’re talking about the same knight who came back from an outing with Emrys covered in scorch marks?”

“There was a dragon, that’s what I told princess.”

“Agatha told me you were trying to set your sword on fire.”

“She’s the one who started setting drinks on fire. And it worked, cover your sword in alcohol and you get a flaming sword. It could be very useful in a fight.”

“What if the sword gets too hot and melts?” They all paused and began to eye up the drinks on the table and their swords, “Wait, no, we’re not doing this. Besides, this was about you two constantly getting possessed. It needs to stop. You’re being too suspicious.”

“And it’s not fair.”

“Exactly! It’s not fair. I have been possessed by Emrys _once_ and when I came back my room was filled with frogs.”

“That wasn’t us.”

“No. It was Gwen. And Leon probably, they did they same thing when we were kids. Merlin probably helped too. There were far too many frogs for just two people to carry in that room.”

∞

A stone’s throw away from the chaos of conversation in the tavern, Merlin and Gwen were wandering through the market of the lower town. Merlin picked up a murky coloured fabric, almost identical in colour to the thin gruel he’s eat during times of poor harvest back in Ealdor, “What about this one?”

Gwen took one look at it, “Merlin that’s hideous. It almost exactly like something-”

“Lady Enide would wear? That’s why it’s perfect.”

Gwen snatched the offending fabric from Merlin’s hands and gently put it back on the stall, smiling at the young stall keeper. Merlin began to look at another fabric, a monstrous muted grey that looked like cobwebs. She grabbed his arm and steered him away from that stall, “You have awful taste.”

“I’d say I’m rather fashionable.” He cast a glance over his outfit.

“You’re wearing the same clothes you were when I met you.”

He pointed at her, “We’re not turning this into another one of your missions to get me new clothes. Otherwise I won’t help you with anything frog-related in future.”

Gwen chuckled, “I still don’t know what was funnier, Elyan’s screams or Leon’s face when he saw how many there were compared to the few he’d helped me bring up.”

“A man who’s scared of frogs is one thing but one scared of frogs breeding like rabbits is another. It was definitely Leon’s face.”

“He really should have worked out there was magic involved though.”

“Why? We _all_ know Camelot’s resident sorcerer was away possessing Elyan that weekend. If Emrys couldn’t have done it then clearly those frogs were just very busy in there after you two left.” 

Gwen shook her head, a fond expression on her face, “Doesn’t it bother you? That they’re just pretending to be you to get out of things. I know they don’t know that’s what they’re doing but still.”

Merlin refrained from responding for a minute. He wandered over to the next stall over, passing some coins to the owner for a bread roll. He broke it and shoved most of it in his mouth before offering some to Gwen.

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“No, I’m not.” He mumbled, mouth still full of bread, “I’m eating.”

Gwen raised a sceptical eyebrow that could rival Gaius.

“It bothers me that they can just go off and pretend to do magic for fun really. That they don’t have to fear any consequences like I did, like I do. The actual act of them using it as an excuse though doesn’t bother me that much. I can’t blame them for wanting to get out of those council meetings after all. If that makes sense?” The pair’s walk had taken them back to the central courtyard of the citadel; they arrived just in time to see some of the knights leaving on patrol. They headed into the castle, wandering through empty corridors as Merlin continued. “Besides, if the truth ever does come out. Hopefully, Arthur will be too mad at them for lying to get out of duties that at me for lying about my identity.”

“You’ve only lied to save your life and you’ve saved the rest of ours a dozen times in the process too.”

Merlin stepped ahead of Gwen and turned to face her, smiling, “More than a dozen times.”

“Oh, sorry your all powerful Emrys-ness.” Gwen laughed, “Anyway, I’m certain he’ll see sense. He’s already made peace with the druids and he’s working on the laws on magic. And if he doesn’t understand, I’ll make sure he does.”

They continued walking, a lull in the conversation as Merlin thought. It was kind of Gwen to say she’d back him up, even if it were to Arthur, even if this could be years in the future when everything is different in so many ways. It was true what she said: that Arthur was working on bridging the divides Uther had created between Camelot and magic. He’d even done so of his own accord, seeking out the druids and learning from them the true nature and history of magic; he’d spoken to those caught using it and tried to sympathise with them rather than simply criminalise them. It was strange how he didn’t make it seem like much yet it was more than Merlin had ever really allowed himself to believe possible. Still, when it came to him finding out the truth, this was still Arthur they were talking about. He was, at heart, an emotional person and, with all the betrayals he’d already faced by liars around him, it wasn’t difficult to assume he’d view Merlin the same way; it wasn’t difficult to recall how hard it was to reach him with reason when his emotions were running high.

“And what is your plan for making him see sense then?” Merlin returned from his thoughts, shoving his doubts away.

“I’ll threaten to divorce him.”

Merlin grinned, “You would not.”

“Why not? If he’s going to be unreasonable then maybe I don’t want to be married to him. I can always find someone else.”

“Like who?”

Gwen shrugged and looked around as if deep in thought, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe Lancelot.”

Merlin shoved her teasingly, “I’d rather deal with Arthur mad at me, you’re not taking Lancelot. Go after someone single, like Leon.”

“Leon’s not- Oh, you don’t know.”

Merlin stopped as he rounded a corner, “I don’t know what?”

Before Gwen could answer, they were interrupted, “Merlin! Where the hell have you been? I need my-”

“Hello Arthur.” Gwen appeared behind Merlin, a slightly amused expression on her face.

“Hello Guinevere.”

Merlin leaned over towards Gwen, “Are you sure you can’t threaten to divorce him now?” he whispered.

She shook her head, “No. Anyway I best be going now.” She headed down the corridor, pausing to plant a kiss on Arthur’s cheek before continuing on her way, “Goodbye Merlin.” She called before disappearing from sight.

“Bye Gwen.” Merlin shouted before facing a vaguely annoyed Arthur.

“So, my armour.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s nice.”

“And your wife.”

“Would you like to be thrown in the stocks Merlin?”

∞

It was just over a week later, Arthur was finishing up some reports, when there was a knock at the door. “Enter.” He called. He put down his quill as Lancelot entered the room.

“Sire.”

“Lancelot, what can I do for you? Is there a problem?”

“Not yet. I just ran into Merlin; he’s been possessed by Emrys again. I was hoping you’d allow me to go with him to ensure he remains unharmed.”

Arthur considered this for a moment, on the one hand Lancelot was one of his best knights and would be valuable if something were to happen in Camelot. On the other hand, Merlin was Merlin and he’d rather not see him come to harm. Especially if Emrys was going up against something as dangerous as a dragon, as he recently had with Gwaine. “Alright, that’s a good idea, gods knows that Merlin can’t look after himself. Even with all-powerful magic at his disposal.”

“Thank you.” Lancelot grabbed the door and turned to leave.

“Before you go, do you know how long this will be for?”

“I couldn’t say. It sounded like he had far to travel though. A week, perhaps. No more than two.”

Arthur nodded and Lancelot left the room. He was grinning like a child, overly pleased with himself as he all but ran through the corridors to get to Merlin, almost completely missing Gwen as he went by her.

“Did it work then?”

“Perfectly.”

Gwen smiled, “I’m glad. He deserves a break. You do too.”

“He does. I’m not so sure about me.”

“You’re a good knight Lancelot; you work hard. All the other knights have been gladly using this excuse to get out of things. You both deserve some tie to enjoy yourselves.”

“Thank you, Gwen.” Lancelot looked at her, a fond warmth in his eyes, before continuing on to find Merlin.

He arrived in Gauis’ chambers a few moments later, glad of the help from Gwen to ensure Merlin would be busy here all day under his mentor’s watchful eye. It was much more convenient than if he’d been left to hi sown devices, running all around Camelot with his various jobs for the day.

“You’ve been possessed by Emrys and I’m supervising you so grab your stuff, we’re going.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me. Now come on,” He stepped forward, reaching out to hold one of Merlin’s hands, “You need a break, you’ve said so yourself.”

“And what if something happens when I’m gone.”

“Believe it or not, we knights are actually capable of doing our jobs. And neither Arthur nor Gwen are helpless either.” Merlin still seemed conflicted; Lancelot leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Just you and me, there’s a lovely spot in the eastern mountains I’d like to take you to.”

“Alright you win.” Merlin said, his voice laced with joy betraying how little a concession this actually was. He gently pulled away from Lancelot, quickly going to his room and packing some items into a bag. Bag packed, he came back over and pulled Lancelot into a kiss, “Thank you.”

“Gwen helped.”

He sighed, I know, I help Arthur with stuff for Gwen and she helps you with stuff for me. But _you’re_ not meant to tell me that.” He grabbed Lancelot’s hand, “Now come on, Emrys doesn’t usually take this long to go anywhere.”

∞

As Merlin and Lancelot left the city, they passed a group of knights returning from patrol; among those knights was Elyan. Upon entry to the citadel courtyard, he dismounted, passing his horse off to one of the stablehands and headed over to Percival and Gwaine.

“Where were those two going?”

Percival shrugged, “Out.”

“Merlin’s been ‘possessed’ and Lancelot is ‘escorting’ him.” Gwaine winked.

“Leon better think of a better excuse then, he went off and said he’d been possessed. According to Feirefiz, it’s not the first time he’s done it either.”

“Maybe Leon’s actually possessed?”

“Considering Merlin’s actually Emrys, I don’t think that’s happened. Keep up Percival.”

Percival mumbled something along the lines of “Oh right, yeah.”, looking incredibly confused with himself for forgetting that.

“But really, _Leon_ used the excuse?” Gwaine took a moment, the shock on his face worse than when they’d all worked out the whole Merlin-Emrys thing. “What for?” He jumped up, snapping his fingers, “Maybe he’s having a sordid romance with Morgana in secret.”

Elyan shook his head, “You’re ridiculous Gwaine.” He wandered off towards his room, more than happy to get his armour off after all these days of patrol. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Percival clap Gwaine on the back before heading off too. He was also certainly more than happy to leave Gwaine and his Leon conspiracies to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel this fic is just a lot of stupid conversations between characters in a trenchcoat, masquerading as a story with plot. 
> 
> Also I'm aiming to upload by the Tuesday of each week at the latest so chapter four should by here by the 30th. Once again, comments and criticisms are welcome, I really appreciate them, and thank you for reading! x


	4. Mordred & Gwen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italicised speech is Mordred and Merlin mind-chatting btw.

“Possessed by Emrys?” Mordred stared at the other knights in confusion, “That’s not possible.”

Elyan, who’d been regaling the others with a tale of the most recent possession (that had conveniently occurred right before a visit from an insufferable noble who’d become infatuated with him during their last visit) turned to Mordred, “No. It’s very possible.”

“Very possible.”

“Lot’s of people get possessed by Emrys. It’d be a problem if he weren’t so useful.” Gwaine nodded emphatically, attempting to convey to Mordred that he ought to agree.

Poor Mordred didn’t get the message, “But Emrys is the name of the most powerful sorcerer to walk the earth; he’s said to help bring about the Golden age. I’ve met him. He’s definitely a person not a spirit.”

“You must be mistaken Mordred.” Lancelot said.

Arthur looked thoughtful for a moment, thinking back to the prophecy of him and Emrys he’d learnt when he’d first come to their aid. No one had spoken of it since; no one but himself, Gauis and Merlin should know it. “How do you know about him being meant to bring about a Golden age?”

Mordred looked at Arthur as if the king had lost his mind; surely, he knew, right? “I’m a druid.”

Arthur’s eye’s widened; he dragged his hands down his face, “You’re a what?”

Mordred took a step back, “I thought you knew.” He tried to look calm but panic was bubbling inside him. He called out to the only person he thought could help, ‘ _Emrys. Merlin.’_

∞

On the other side of the castle Merlin rolled his eyes, ‘ _What Mordred.’_

_‘Arthur didn’t know I was a druid.’_

_‘And?’_

_‘I thought he knew! You know. Morgana knows. Why doesn’t he know?’_

_‘Well, he is an idiot.’_

_‘What should I do?’_

_‘You’ll be fine.’_

Merlin tuned Mordred out after that. Perhaps that was cruel of him but Mordred still wasn’t to be trusted; if this meant that Arthur got rid of him then so be it, at least then he wouldn’t have to worry about him killing him. He resigned himself back to his work. He distracted himself for less than a minute when two voices, sounding eerily like Lancelot and Gwen, started telling him he ought to help. The two had been telling him since he’d first heard the prophecy that it may not be true, that Mordred didn’t deserve to be punished by him for something he may never do. He’d tried to listen but last time he’d tried Morgana had ended up just as bad as prophesised. Still, leaving Mordred alone with Arthur having just found out his magic, in the one situation Merlin most feared, was a truly hypocritical level of cruelty. He sighed and conceded to the magic voices, “Fine, I’ll go.” He dropped what he was doing, quite literally, and took off in search of Mordred and Arthur.

∞

Leon placed a hand on Mordred’s shoulder, “It’s alright. Camelot made peace with the druids. And I myself was once saved by them. No harm will come to you for who you are Mordred.”

Mordred smiled at him. “I honestly thought you knew though,” he turned to Arthur, “when I told you that you saved my life once, I thought you realised I was the druid boy you helped.”

“You’re the druid boy? You don’t even look like the same person!”

“I got older.”

“What’s going on?” They all turned towards Merlin; both Arthur and Mordred looking significantly more relived by his arrival.

“Did you realise Mordred is the druid boy we helped?”

“Not everyone is as big a clotpole as you. And he does have the same name as him.” 

“Not that it makes any difference who Mordred is. He’s still Mordred; he’s a knight who has proven himself protecting Camelot and Arthur several times already.” Lancelot said with a pointed look at Merlin.

“Perhaps. But perhaps, as Emrys told me, he is as the prophecy said and is destined to kill Arthur. Maybe he should be dealt with now.”

‘ _You think I’m going to kill Arthur?’_

Arthur stared at Merlin, his face contorting into many expressions of shock and confusion, “He though we knew already. We have made peace with the druids and having magic is no longer criminal. Nor should we punish him for something he may never do.”

“And besides Merlin, Emrys is possessing me right now and he says that that’s not true.” Gwaine said, “He also says there’s another problem to deal with and I’m going to need Percival, Elyan and Mordred’s help.” He grabbed the latter of the three and began walking off, the former two following them before anyone else could react. Arthur watched them leave, muttered something about this all being too much for one day and then left in the opposite direction, towards the castle.

“You’ve not really been possessed by Emrys.” Mordred said as they got out of earshot.

“No. We’re here to catch you up on the truth.” Gwaine clapped Mordred on the back and grinned.

“And compare notes, possibly.” Percival added.

“Oh, and I need to know if you can use magic to set my sword on fire.”

Elyan sighed, “Do not listen to Gwaine. That is not happening.”

∞

Back at the castle, Merlin was making his way back to what he was doing. As he walked through the corridors, he rounded the corner to see Gwen and Agravaine. Lucky enough, Agravaine’s back was turned to him and he was far to engrossed in what he was saying, some critical and patronising dissection of how well Gwen had been performing her duties as Queen, to hear him. Merlin backed up round the corner and waited.

“I really appreciate your help and advice but I must be going, apologies.” Gwen smiled and made to leave.

Agravaine side stepped in front of her, “Are you certain my lady? I have much more I believe-”

“I’m quite sure. Emrys is in need in of me so I must be on my way.”

Agravaine had never been fully convinced of this Emrys possession trick; Morgana spoke of the one known as Emrys as if he were a person who was her greatest enemy. All those in Camelot were certainly enemies but none of them were that. “Are you truly sure? Perhaps you are just-”

All of a sudden Agravaine’s robes caught on fire. Gwen looked at him, unfazed, “I am quite certain.” She walked around him and left Agravaine there, robes burning; and as she passed Merlin, she grinned conspiratorially at him.

∞

Whilst Agravaine went through an experience that led him to begin believing in the Emrys possessions, some months later Arthur experienced quite the opposite.

“Gauis, where have you been?” Arthur snapped when he saw his missing physician for the first time in a week.

Gauis slowly turned to face him, “Apologies sire, Emrys required my assistance.”

Arthur’s eyes widened, “You?”

“Yes sire.” Gauis nodded, trying to hide an amused smile. In truth he’d been away visiting Alice, trying to get her to come back to Camelot now things were much safer. Unfortunately, she’d refused but her company for the few days he was there was nice enough; he could always visit her again.

Gauis left and Arthur stood there struggling to comprehend what he’d heard. “Gauis. Why would Emrys possess Gauis? He’s Gauis. He’s not really going to help fight. He’s old.” He muttered to himself, drawing a couple of worried looks from passing servants.

∞

Later that night Arthur suddenly bolted upright in bed, “Gauis wasn’t possessed. They’ve all been faking it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, the lone Camelot braincell has finally met Arthur. 
> 
> Anyway, comments and criticisms are welcome! Also you can find me as oohlook-thevoid on tumblr for more me and more Merlin.


	5. Arthur

There were several ways in which Arthur could handle this revelation: the first, and probably the most sensible, would be to tell them all that he now knew. It would stop them using it to get out of everything and he could maybe go back to having competent people around him. However, there was also the slight problem of him knowing that they hadn’t all been faking; he’d seen Merlin use Emrys’ magic several times now and he’d heard from his uncle that Guinevere had used it too. And whilst he highly doubted the likes of Gwaine, Percival, Elyan and Gauis having ever genuinely been possessed, there was always the risk that Emrys _would_ end up possessing one of them in future. And what kind of trouble would that entail if Arthur refused to let them go? It was an impossible problem so Arthur, naturally, elected for another solution.

He decided to do nothing. Well, sort of.

He was aware of what Gauis had said the first time Emrys had helped them, that due to their entwined destinies the spirit couldn’t directly possess Arthur, but only Gauis and Merlin knew that fact. The two also knew that many of the Emrys possessions were faked. They also wouldn’t want to cause any diplomatic troubles either. Point is, they wouldn’t call him out on faking it (hopefully).

Almost two months after his revelation, Arthur found the perfect opportunity to use the excuse. The royal family of Strathclyde were visiting Camelot. It was largely a visit to secure a new trade deal but Strathclyde was also a kingdom far enough away that they hadn’t criminalized magic as Camelot had. Their insight was invaluable to the process of legalizing magic. Their insight was also, unfortunately, mind-numbingly dull. At least Uther’s rants on the evils of magic were interesting, King Hamonet seemed only capable of discussing magic in the most boring way, “And so, under declaration 226, we ensured legal restriction upon citizens of Strathclyde using magic as a means of increasing the yield of crops. Each peasant, if able to use magic, is able to use magic to increase crop yield only to ensure that those reliant upon them for sustenance are provided for. If one were to use magic to increase crop yield for commercial means then that would result in a fine varying between 3 bronze coins to 7 silver ones. However, this can, of course, be circumvented in instances of drought if extended magic use worked to the benefit of the nation or if those involved have made applications through the appropriate channels to have an increased yield for commercial purposes. This largely relates to farmers who produce crop that we use in inter-kingdom trade.” He continued on and on.

Arthur nodded occasionally, giving the illusion he was listening. Quite frankly, it seemed that this would all be easier if they just made up all the laws themselves. He glanced around the banquet hall. Merlin was loitering near the knights, he seemed to be talking most to Lancelot but was occasionally joining in the conversation going on between Gwaine, Percival, Mordred and a couple of Hamonet’s men. Guinevere had excuse herself from the head table, along with Hamonet’s daughter Aveline, a short while ago and they were now engaged in conversation with Elyan and Leon. Agravaine was mysteriously absent, although Arthur had to admit that his uncle’s disappearances had becoming more and more common as of late, and Gauis was also absent, although that was likely because he was treating the young squire Feirefiz for injuries he’d sustained.

The important thing was that everyone was accounted for and no one was possessed. And, perhaps, as king he shouldn’t just leave in the middle of a diplomatic visit but he was also a young man who’s friends (save for Leon and Mordred, evidently, therefore, the most trustworthy of them all) had done the same to him many times over at this point. Leaving them alone to deal with King Hamonet seemed fair.

And so, before Hamonet could launch into another endless tirade, this time on the nuances of law regarding magical clothmaking, Arthur turned to the other King, “I’m terribly sorry Hamonet but I have just been possessed by Emrys. I must leave immediately on a matter of great importance. My wife and several of my most trusted knights,” He gestured towards them across the room, “will, of course, ensure that talks between our kingdoms can continue as planned.” Then, Arthur stood up and left the room.

∞

“Where’s princess going?” Gwaine asked, nodding his head in the direction of the door.

The others all turned to look, “I don’t know,” Gwen said, “I should talk to Hamonet, ensure Arthur didn’t just leave him.”

“I’ll come too.” Leon followed her over to the visiting King.

Merlin paused, “I should go after Arthur.”

Lancelot reached up to grab Merlin’s arm, “Do you want company, in case something’s wrong?” Merlin shook his head and hurried out of the room after Arthur.

Aveline caught on to the nervous energy the knights had suddenly developed, “I’m certain all is perfectly. My father wants these talks to go well and I assume your King does too. Perhaps he simply feels a little under the weather, it has happened before. Why once, we were entertaining a noble family from our northern lands, Lord and Lady Hale, when father was suddenly overcome with a spell of sickness…” She carried on with her story. The knights half-heartedly paid attention, each of them constantly glancing over to Gwen and Leon talking to King Hamonet.

A short while later Gwen came back over, Leon just behind, “Aveline, your father is retiring for the night too. He suggested you ought to do the same.”

“You husband is well though?”

“Yes, Arthur is well. He has, unfortunately, had to leave on urgent business. I’m sure we can discuss this all further tomorrow.”

Aveline nodded, “Of course.” She stood and said her farewells before leaving. The knights of Strathclyde soon followed suite, as did most of the other nobles and knights of Camelot.

Quick enough, it was only those on the round table who remained; that was who Merlin found when he reappeared a short while later, “Oh good, you’re all still here. Arthur’s-”

“Decided to get possessed and ditched us because he’s mad that we’ve been using it as an excuse to get out of things this whole time? We know.” The group all heaved a collective sigh. This was going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be at the end of the last chapter but it just didn't want to be written so now it's ended up as this fairly short chapter of it's own. But hey, this isn't going completely to plan but it is for fun at the end of the day (it's funfic, if you will).
> 
> As always comments and criticisms are always welcome. You can find me as @oohlook-thevoid on tumblr. And I'll see you in the next chapter where I hopefully recover the plot and give you an actual magic reveal with a side of Agravaine being the worst.


	6. Agravaine

It had been several months since Arthur had elected to join in on the Emrys possession bandwagon. On the one hand, it was a nightmare as the King used it to get out of all manner of duties (rarely anything as important as the first time, mind, but he was getting out of his duties nonetheless). On the other hand, the King using magic (supposedly) was helping smooth over the transition from a magic-hating Kingdom to a more magic-friendly place. And, admittedly, it had helped that a lot of the peasants had never been that bothered in the first place but when it came to the nobles, Arthur’s absolute trust in this bizarre magical spirit was easing their minds an awful lot.

That isn’t to say, however, that there weren’t problems. Because there were problems. Namely, Agravaine.

The man was doing quite possibly everything to disrupt, well, everything. Every time the council met, he would spout nonsense about following Uther and continuing to avenge Ygraine. Then, on the side, the knights were convinced that he was the one leaving anti-magic and anti-Arthur pamphlets around in the lower town – not that they could prove it. All in all, the man was just being a vile nuisance at least trying to get in the way of any real progress.

∞

“So, what should we do about Agravaine then?” Gwaine asked, perched near the window, with Elyan and Percival, in Lancelot’s quarters. Lancelot, Merlin and Gwen were all sat on the bed; Mordred was leant against the wall about as far from Merlin as was possible whilst still being involved in the conversation.

“We could kill him.” Merlin suggested. Moments later he was wacked in the face with a hunk of bread; he glared at a smirking Elyan.

“You suggest murder as a solution far too much.” Percival said.

“First of all, it’s effective. Second of all, no I don’t.”

“You said we should kill Mordred.”

Merlin shrugged, “He’s meant to kill Arthur.” He got another hunk of bread lobbed his way; this time stopping it mid-air and hurling it back into Elyan’s smug face.

“He’s a knight of Camelot, a trusted ally, leave the boy be Merlin.”

“He was working with Morgana before he became a knight.”

“I stabbed her to help you.”

“Are you hearing this? First, he stabs Morgana, next it’ll be Arthur and he won’t survive.”

By this point, there were several heads in hands and muttered sentiments of disgruntlement around the room. “Merlin,” Gwen started, “maybe give my husband a bit more credit for surviving things than that,”

“He’d have died years ago without me.”

“Ok fine but still.” Gwen sighed, “Also, maybe just admit your prophecy’s a bit wrong. Mordred isn’t going to just run off and kill Arthur anytime soon.”

“Who told you these prophecies anyway?”

“Kilgarrah.”

“Who?”

“The dragon.”

“The dragon who was imprisoned by Uther and terrorised Camelot after being freed?”

Merlin nodded.

“Don’t you think he may have an agenda of his own? And don’t you think maybe not every eventuality was in the prophecies?” Gwaine gestured to the rest of the knights, “Did we show up in any way; do you only trust us because the prophecy said so?”

“No but that’s completely different.”

“Just face it Merlin, your prophecy is at least fifty percent just a load of nonsense.”

“And besides, even if Mordred ever tried to kill Arthur, we’d all be able to work it out quickly I imagine.”

Merlin shrugged, conceding, to a certain extent, defeat. ‘ _You’re still, at the very least, a nuisance. And I won’t help you with anything.’_ He said to Mordred, glaring at the younger man.

Lancelot elbowed merlin in the side, “And stop harassing Mordred through your mind-speak thing.”

Hearing that, Elyan lobbed yet another hunk of bread at Merlin, “Can we get back to what we were actually here to talk about?”

“What were we talking about again?”

“Agravaine.” The seven of them turned round to see a flustered Arthur come running through the door, followed shortly by an equally flustered Leon.

A few minutes of back and forth later – which was largely a lot of complaining on Arthur’s part that “Like usual, none of you are where you’re supposed to be. Why are you all in Lancelot’s room anyway? This isn’t what I pay you for.” and a lot of non-commital responses from the others – they reached a conclusion on what was going on.

“So, your uncle said he was possessed by Emrys and now you think he’s up to something?”

“Yes, that’s what I’ve been saying.”

The others looked at each other, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“What do you suggest we do about this then?” Gwen asked, before turning to Merlin, “and don’t you suggest killing him.” Merlin raised his hands in mock surrender and stayed quiet whilst Arthur looked all the more confused.

“Since we couldn’t send anyone after him, so as not to raise his suspicions, we don’t know where he’s gone,” Leon said, “nor do we know how long he’ll be away for.”

“But he should come back?”

Leon nodded.

“So, we wait.” Arthur said.

∞

It took a grand total of three hours after he left for Agravaine to return. He did so with little fanfare and, after leaving his horse in the hands of a stable boy, went straight to his quarters.

A short while after returning, as he was depositing the potion Morgana had given him (one that would create conflict between those who consumed it) in a safe place, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” he called out; he watched as Arthur, a handful of his idiotic knights, his awful wife and the nuisance of a serving boy, entered. “May I ask what is the meaning of such a gathering in my quarters, Arthur.”

“You were possessed by Emrys earlier today, correct uncle?”

“That’s what I told you earlier.”

“Why do you lie to me?”

Agravaine paused, “I assure you, Arthur, I am not lying.”

“I have never been possessed nor have any of my knights or Gauis. So, what evidence have you that you were indeed under the influence of Emrys?”

Agravaine froze as Arthur spoke, thoughts ticking over what he thought he knew. “You neglect to mention your wife and serving boy, what evidence have you that they have been under Emrys’ possession?”

“I’ve seen Merlin use Emrys’ magic and, unless you lied to me before, you have seen Guinevere do the same.”

“Perhaps the pair are simply foul sorcerers conspiring against you.”

In the background, as this back and forth between Arthur and Agravaine got all the more heated, Gwaine leant over to Merlin, “I don’t mean to pressure you Merlin, but I think now could be a good time for you to say something.” The others, save for Leon, who seemed more than a little perplexed, all murmured affirmations.

“Listen to them whisper behind your back Arthur, there is clearly no end to their treachery yet you are blind to it.”

Arthur’s hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword, he went to drawn it on his uncle.

“Oh, for the love of Camelot, stop it!” Merlin cried out, “No one has ever been possessed by Emrys. I am Emrys. It was all just a lie so I wasn’t constantly having to hide using my magic to help you because you do not realise how exhausting that is, especially when I am having to save you almost every day from some sort of danger or another. You would have died years ago without me Arthur. And you, Agravaine, were therefore very much not possessed by me! So where were you?”

“Do you hear this Arthur? The servant has admitted to using magic when it was outlawed. He must be punished.”

Arthur grit his teeth, maintaining focus on his uncle despite the overwhelming urge to yell at his friend for, well, he wasn’t sure why exactly but there was definitely a specific reason for its somewhere. “Just answer the question uncle.”

Agravaine stayed still, his gaze darted briefly to the recently concealed potion. Following his line of sight, Leon wandered over and, after a brief search, removed the potion from it’s hiding space, “This doesn’t look like anything Gauis prescribes.”

“What is it?” Arthur asked; Agravaine refused to reply. The king turned to Merlin, “What is it?”

“How should I know?”

“You’re Emrys apparently, doesn’t that mean you’re some magical person? Shouldn’t you know magical things?”

“I’m powerful not knowledgeable. I can’t just look at a potion to work it out, I’d have to take it to Gauis’ and check some things.”

Arthur shook his head, exasperation settling in, “Fine, you go check the potion. The rest of you,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing, “either go with Merlin or take Agravaine to the cells and keep an eye on him until we work this all out.” He started making his way out of the room, “I’m just going to go think.”

He walked out, followed shortly by Gwen. They heard a muttered, “We’re surrounded by idiots, you realise that?” echo down the corridor just as Gwaine commented, “I didn’t even realise he _could_ think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no update but I'm returned after starting uni, dropping out of uni and having several crises prior to, during and after those events. One chapter left and hopefully it won't be as long a wait this time. 
> 
> So, hope you enjoyed - comments and kudos are welcomed. You can also find me on tumblr @oohlook-the void and I'm now going to go reply to the comments I've left in limbo for wayyy too long. <3


End file.
